Southside's LaCocina reopens under new ownership

LaCocina sign at Do Dah Day 2010 (Courtesy of LaCocina)LaCocina, a fixture on Birmingham's Southside since 1981, reopened last week after new owners took over the venerable Mexican restaurant and closed it to make extensive renovations throughout the kitchen and dining area. It had closed in December.

Brother-and-sister owners Shawn Morrison and Stacey Marchman bought LaCocina from previous owner Ron Mason, and they have brought back the original enchilada, quesadilla and chimichanga recipes that founder Kim Meriwether made popular when LaCocina was the happening place to gather on the Southside in the 1980s.

After Meriwether died in a hang-gliding accident in 1989, his wife, Wanda, continued to run the restaurant until selling it to Mason last year.

She has come back to help the new owners train the staff and greet the customers.

"It's my dream to see this succeed," she says. "I think this brother-and-sister team that's got it now are going to do an incredible job with it, and I'm just here to kind of assist them as I need to."

Also back are head cook Isaac Gore and waitress Jean Rohar, each of whom has worked at LaCocina for almost 20 years.

LaCocina is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and for lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays. It is closed Saturdays and Sundays.

The address is 2111 Seventh Ave. South, and the phone number is 252-7626.